Please help me! Wal-Mart fish!

Alyssa, I have worked at 2 different Petsmarts. In one store the "back room" was tiny and held some overstock, but not much. The other Petsmart had no "back room" at all. All of the overstock was up on overhead shelving around the perimeter of the store and you needed a forklift to get it down. If they said that they were out of stock, they probably were. Don't give up, usually every store gets new stuff in all the time. You might ask the manager about when the larger tanks will be delivered to that particular store.
Good for you for asking about how you should care for your fish! And I am sure that your dad, who has aquarium experience will help you a lot.
Keep up the good work and the water changes and let us know what happens!
 
IMHO,

I think you should slow down and take a breath.

The goldfish will grow fast, but they won't be 3 feet long tomorrow.
The walmart around here carries some larger tanks, have you looked there for a tank?

Take the time afforded to you to do some reading, and what you are doing now... asking questions. Keep the water clean and feed them sparingly and they should hold out for a while.

The tank I used for my quarantine was actually just a 5 gallon bucket with an old HOB filter running just carbon. My Marine fish all lived there for a week before moving to thier real home, and they all survived. You do have time.

You have to understand that people that get deep into this hobby are passionate and opinionated. Take the best of the advice you get, and do your best to follow it. Don't feel intimidated or (espicially in this hobby) rushed.

Just try in the next couple of weeks to find an adequate tank. Goldfish are tougher than ou think. Our parents and grandparents kept them in glorified salad bowls for petes sake.
 
Alyssa, the new tank has to be a temporary tank, until you can get a 20 or 30 gallon. You can't leave them in the 1 gallon tank for a very long time. The bubbler will help, though, for now.

Tell us about the new tank. Does it have a filter? If it has a filter then that should work well to oxygenating the water in that tank, and then you could stick the bubbler down in the other tank.

Goldfish really are social and like to be together, but, temporarily, you could put one in each tank and place them side by side so they can see each other.

Someone that is more of a goldfish expert may suggest otherwise, and I hope they do so if it would be better to keep them together. It just seems to me that the water would be less messy during the day for them.

Remember, no matter what, you need to keep doing water changes. They need sparkling clear water.

Keep doing daily water changes, taking care to use the dechlorinator, and be careful to keep the temperatures the same.
Room temp should be OK since goldies don't need really warm water, but they do need the new water to be the same as the water they are in when you do the changes.

A difference in water temperature can be stressful and can even shock and kill them if the difference is significant.

Are you going to be able to go get a larger tank soon? Did Petsmart say when they would have new tanks in?

Call Walmart and ask if they have something bigger than a 10 gallon. I know the one near me has 10 gallons and 55 gallons, but I don't know about 20 or 30.

Worst case scenario get your dad to get you a 10 gallon. It is still way way too small, but if you, without fail, make daily water changes and keep their tank sparkling clean they could stay in there for a month, maybe, but they grow so fast.

Fish become stunted; deformed, if they live too long in a tank that is too small for them.
They may look OK, but the outside of them will stop growing, and the insides will keep growing, and this causes pain and suffering. I know you don't want that. Goldfish are hardy little guys and should be OK for a while. You are doing a great job trying to take care of them.


Tell us more about the new tank, please.
 
Show us a pic of your new tank, please, if you can.:)
 
You know, Alfbennet is right. You could get one of those sterilite bins from Walmart. They come in all sizes, and even probably in a 20 or 30 gallon.

You know what I'm talking about alyssaa? They are rectangular translucent storage containers in the housewares department. They come with lids, but you don't need to put the lid on it.

Walmart does have HOB (hang on back) filters for a variety of sizes. I know I've seen some for even up to 30-60 gallons at my Walmart.

One of our AC members told me she uses those sterilite storage bins at times for temporary tanks, just rinse with clean water, no soap.

Fill with the right temperature (same as the water they are in) water and use the dechlorinator.

Hang the filter on it, and unless your house is really cold you don't need a heater. You don't even need to put gravel in it really, but the little cave you have would be good. They'll soon outgrow it, though.

You will still need to do regular water changes, and you could get a turkey baster, clean and new, and use it to suck out uneaten food and poo. Your dad might have a syphon that he uses to change the water in his tanks, and if so he may let you use it.

When you do water changes it's important to use clean containers. If you use plastic, like a bucket or big bowl to change the water, you need to use one that has never had soap in it. Plastics can retain some of the harmful ingredients that are in soap, and that can make your fish sick or even kill them.

It's also important that you make sure you don't have any residue of soap, or lotions, or perfumes, or other chemicals or substances on your hands and arms when you do water changes, or stick your hands in the tank with your fishies.

I always just rinse and rinse my hands and arms, scrubbing and rubbing to remove any lotion or soap residue. If I thought my hands had oils, or maybe if I think my hands aren't clean, then I do use soap to wash up, but I make sure I rinse and rub and get all the soap residue off.

You also want to be careful and not spray any aresols in the room, unless you cover the tank for long enough for it to dissipate. Any kind of chemical exposure can be fatal, and that includes air fresheners, perfumes, bug spray (especially!!) and the like.
 
SMDimi said:
I agree with the first half. It is your responsibility.

BUT- this is at WALMART- where the person in charge of the fish probably knows NOTHING- and we are talking about a 13 year old here.
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I work for Wal-Mart. For over 7 years. I'm "in charge of the fis.h" I think I know a little bit more than nothing. I've heard worse advice from pet specific retail chains than I've EVER heard from my local Wal-Marts.
She saw a fish in need, her dad keeps fish well, and she wanted to see the goldfish just as happy as those at home! She and her friend didn't know what they were doing.
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Obviously she had to get to Wal-Mart SOMEHOW. Where were the parental or guardian units when these children were purchasing living animals? Just because a kid says 'I want it.' Doesn't mean you have to say yes.
It's obvious a dog or cat is a large investment- there aren't VET BILLS for a FISH!!!!!!!!
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between the tank, hood/cover, lights, filter, heaters, food, medicines, substrates, decos etc etc.... you're telling me this is a cheap hobby? and i'm not even getting to big fish or planted tanks or saltwater
After this long rant, the point is- we should be supportive, and proud, that someone so young could have such a desire to treat these creatures correctly, and the WISDOM to look in the right places for answers.
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I have no argument with that. My last little bit of my post was a mini rant about some of the people I have to deal with at work and others on several aquarium forums. Case in point, a few days ago a woman came in wanting to know what she needed to get a pink kissing fish. Started asking what size tank she currently had. She didn't have one. She had a bowl she wanted to put it in. Told her to go home, research the nitrogen cycle (after I explained how to cycle a tank), research the fish and possible tankmates and come back when she was ready. She proceeded to buy 2 calico fantails and 2 feeder fish... for the bowl.
No matter how much proper advice is given, people hear what they want. And when they don't hear what they want, they do what they originally want to anyway.
 
wow... this thread is doing its darndest to derail....

the issue here is not what kind of expertise or advice is or isn't available where. the issue is two fish and their owner who is trying like hell to keep them alive after making a mistake. and i think she's doing a heck of a job, and putting in more effort than most 13-year-olds i know would. let's focus on alyssaa and her goldies, shall we?
 
Yay!

Your Goldies will be just fine for a few days in their little tank. They looked pretty small to me, and goldies are very hardy fish. IMO i would not get a tank from petsmart (overpriced). You could probably get a starter tank from walmart for the price that you would pay at petsmart for a tank and a few accessories, and good chance that they would not be out of them.

Just a thought.

I think you are doing a wonderful job. It's great that you are actually trying to make a better life for them, and not just deciding "whatever... they're just fish" like so many other people do.

Stick around here and you will learn so much stuff about this hobby. One person in particular that you could learn ALOT from is Flaringshutter. Go look up some of her posts, she's got monster goldies. :)
 
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